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While scholars of nonviolent resistance recognize that large-scale campaigns are more likely to b... more While scholars of nonviolent resistance recognize that large-scale campaigns are more likely to be successful campaigns, we currently have little understanding of why some nonviolent protests grow into mass movements while others do not. In this article, we explore campaign size and, in particular, the role of individual and collective motives in facilitating the growth of nonviolent campaigns. We start by assuming that, after campaign onset, barriers to growth emerge because some aggrieved individuals who are sympathetic to the cause are wary of incurring the (opportunity) costs of participating in campaign rallies. On occasion, we argue, organizers respond to this challenge by staging events that generate rewarding emotional experiences for participants and spectators, such as concerts, mass singing, or other collecti ve expressi ve acts. Since the feelings of empowerment, solidarity, catharsis, or glee that accompany these events can only be enjoyed by those who are physically present at campaign rallies, the provision of such "emotive events" creates an individual-level incentive for passi ve supporter s to mobilize. As this incenti ve attracts new participants, campaigns can growpotentially into large-scale phenomena. To assess the plausibility of our argument, we code original data on emotive events and investigate whether the provision of such events in the course of nonviolent campaigns is associated with the size and scale of those campaigns. Finding this to be the case, we conclude that campaigns that are more creative, humorous, cathartic, and/or fun are also more likely to be large-scale campaigns. Resumen Si bien los académicos de la resistencia pacífica reconocen que las campañas a gran escala tienen más probabilidades de ser campañas exitosas, en la actualidad no entendemos bien por qué algunas protestas pacíficas se convierten en movimientos masivos mientras que otras no. En este artículo, exploramos el tamaño de las campañas y, en particular, el papel de los motivos individuales y colectivos para facilitar el crecimiento de las campañas pacíficas. Partimos de la base de que, una vez iniciada la campaña, surgen barreras al crecimiento porque algunas personas perjudicadas que simpatizan con la causa desconfían de incurrir en los costos (de oportunidad) de participar en las concentra
While scholars of nonviolent resistance recognize that large-scale campaigns are more likely to b... more While scholars of nonviolent resistance recognize that large-scale campaigns are more likely to be successful campaigns, we currently have little understanding of why some nonviolent protests grow into mass movements while others do not. In this article, we explore campaign size and, in particular, the role of individual and collective motives in facilitating the growth of nonviolent campaigns. We start by assuming that, after campaign onset, barriers to growth emerge because some aggrieved individuals who are sympathetic to the cause are wary of incurring the (opportunity) costs of participating in campaign rallies. On occasion, we argue, organizers respond to this challenge by staging events that generate rewarding emotional experiences for participants and spectators, such as concerts, mass singing, or other collecti ve expressi ve acts. Since the feelings of empowerment, solidarity, catharsis, or glee that accompany these events can only be enjoyed by those who are physically present at campaign rallies, the provision of such "emotive events" creates an individual-level incentive for passi ve supporter s to mobilize. As this incenti ve attracts new participants, campaigns can growpotentially into large-scale phenomena. To assess the plausibility of our argument, we code original data on emotive events and investigate whether the provision of such events in the course of nonviolent campaigns is associated with the size and scale of those campaigns. Finding this to be the case, we conclude that campaigns that are more creative, humorous, cathartic, and/or fun are also more likely to be large-scale campaigns. Resumen Si bien los académicos de la resistencia pacífica reconocen que las campañas a gran escala tienen más probabilidades de ser campañas exitosas, en la actualidad no entendemos bien por qué algunas protestas pacíficas se convierten en movimientos masivos mientras que otras no. En este artículo, exploramos el tamaño de las campañas y, en particular, el papel de los motivos individuales y colectivos para facilitar el crecimiento de las campañas pacíficas. Partimos de la base de que, una vez iniciada la campaña, surgen barreras al crecimiento porque algunas personas perjudicadas que simpatizan con la causa desconfían de incurrir en los costos (de oportunidad) de participar en las concentra